In a recent interview with Joe Budden on Everyday Struggle, Vince Staples dropped some knowledge on the Hall Of Fame punk rock band Ramones. As it turns out, their song “Blitzkrieg Bop” (or, that “Hey! Ho! Let’s go!” song) is one of the group’s most successful, influential and popular songs; however, the album it was originally on, the band’s 1976 self-titled debut album, did poorly on the charts (it peaked at No. 111 on the Billboard 200) and finally went Gold in 2014, 38 years after its release and three months before the last surviving member of the group’s original lineup, Thomas “Tommy Ramone” Erdelyi, would pass.
The moral of his story was that record sales pale in comparison to critical acclaim, and that they don’t necessarily dictate the “success” of an artist. That logic can be applied to Tech N9ne, who after a 26-year career in music finally received his first-ever Platinum certification.
Taking to his Instagram account, Tech shared the news that “Caribou Lou,” from his 2006 album Everready (The Religion), had reached the proverbial mountaintop. The song was certified Gold in 2012, while Everready debuted at No. 50 on the Billboard 200.
It goes to show that, once again, sales mean nothing in regards to legacy and longevity. Congrats to Tech!
